Analogies in Iranian and Armenian Folklore

Analogies in Iranian and Armenian Folklore

BY

Dr. EUGENE WILHELM, Professor of Iranian Languages
in the University of Jena, Jena, Germany.

The Armenians, whose language P. de Lagarde 1 and Friedrich Muller 2 declare
Iranian, and H. Hubschmann 3 characterizes as a self-dependent member
of the Indo-Arian linguistic family, were in consequence of the geographical position
of their country, which was on the main road between the east and the west from
ancient times, in contact with nations of different races and civilisation. One may even
say, that the civilisation and the political development of the country were always
under foreign influence. Babylonian and Assyrian influences are proved from the
9th century B. C. downwards, for the kings of Wan left cuneiform inscriptions as
monuments of their proud victories. But the reigns of the Achaemenian kings and their
successors, the Arsacides and Sa,ssanides (from the 5th century B. C. to the 7th
century A. D.), influenced most deeply the life, religion, political organisation and
jurisdiction of the Armenians and especially their language. The Armenian scholar
Bagrat Chalatianz 4 endeavoured recently, by tracing Iranian heroic legends in the
Armenian folklore, to prove that the Iranian influences extended a great deal farther.
These Armenian legends, known by the name of the legends of Rustam-i-Zal, relate
not only the deeds of the Iranian hero Rustam, but also those of the other Persian
Pehlv&ns, with whom the Armenian hero has many traits in common. Several

& Of. P. de Laoabde, Armenisohe Studien. I. Teil. Gtfttingen, 1877*

* Fr. Mulleb, Grundrlss der Sprachwisaenacbaft, I Bd. I. Teil. Wien, 1876. 8. 97.

* H. Hubschmann, Armenische Studien. Leipzig, 1888.

* B. Chalatianz, Iranische Helden im armenischen Volke. Russian Reyiew "Ethnographiache Uebenioht," hrg.
▼on der Kaiserl Ethnogr. Geeellschaft, Moskau 1900, XII Vol., 45. The same: " Die armenische Heldenaage" Zeit-
schrift far vergleiohende Volkskunde XII, 1902. " Die iranieohe Heldenaage bei den Armeniern," ibidem XIV,
1904.

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episodes from the life of Rustam are bodily taken over into the Armenian epos.
The popularity of the Iranian heroic legends among the Armenians is an important
fact, and its consequence was, that the Armenian national hero, though impregnated
with the character of the Iranian heroes, remained nevertheless the favourite of his
own people. 1 This is all very easy to understand. In the remotely situated country
of Armenia with its quiet, patriarchal life, the remembrance of the old heroic times
could certainly more easily be preserved than in other countries that were sooner
carried on by the current of modern civilisation. But not only are the Iranian heroic
legends, which were formerly recited by professional minstrels (Gusans), remembered
among the people of Armenia and among simple peasants, even nowadays, but the
influences of the Iranian religion may likewise still be traced in the popular Armenian
belief, as Dr. Manuk Abeghian* points out in his treatise. Following this
young Armenian scholar, I will try to point out several analogies in Armenian and
Iranian folklore.

The principal point in the Armenian popular belief is, as among the
Iranians, the belief about the opposition between light and darkness, or between the
spirits of light, whose names are mostly Christian, and the bad spirits, the black devs %
roving about, invisible or sometimes visible, in various shapes in the air, the water,
the earth and human dwelling places. There is a struggle between the spirits of
light, who are friendly to man and protect him, and the dark demons, who are his
enemies and do him injury. Every blessing, such as life, daylight, joy and happiness
is considered to be effectuated by the spirits of light ; and every bad thing, such as
death, darkness, sickness, and misfortune is caused by the evil spirits of the night.
Therefore the black, smoky devs are feared, but not worshipped. Light, which is the
supreme God, only is worshipped. The one, good God, who rules the
world and has given unto man his luminous belief and his law of righteousness,
is also conceived under the idea of light. He has under his command and in his
service hosts of angels and saints. .It is even so with the idea of God

1 Moses of Khorene (6th century) remarks to the young prince Saak Baqratuni : If you like I will relate to you
about the hero Tori, incredible and absurd things as the Persians do relate about Bobtom Sagtsohick, asserting
that he possessed the strength of 120 elephants. Of. Moses ChObenazi, Gesohlchte Armeniens, Venedig, 1881. 8. 174—
Langlois Collection II, 84.

1 "Per armenische Volksglaube." Leipzig, 1899. 127 8.

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in the religion of Zarathustra. " Ahura Mazda is the one God, the Creator, the .
Ruler and Preserver of the Universe, without form, and invisible. To Him is
assigned a place above all, and to Him every praise is to be given for all the good
and for all the blessings we enjoy in this world. He is the source of immense light
from which all glory, bounty and goodness flew. He is represented as the
mightiest, the most just, and the most benevolent. His mercies are as boundless
as His being." 1 Upon a golden throne, under golden beams, and a golden
canopy sits Ahura Mazda together with the six Amesha-Spentas, the Archangels
{of. Yt. XV, 2 ; XVII, 9), after whom range the Yazatas or angels as the third
in the rank.

Heaven, paradise and hell are conceived by the Armenians in the same
way as by the Iranians. Heaven is represented as a town, sometimes called
the "inestimable town." The Iranian exterior heaven, which the later Parsi
writings distinguish from an interior one, where the stars are fixed and
which is always in motion, is Asman, a word that in the Armenian dialect
of Arcax occurs for heaven, a protecting wall of blue stones for keeping ofF
the evil spirits (cf. W. Geiger, Ostiranische Kuttur, pp. 304-5). According
to this conception, the celestial town of the Armenians is surrounded by
high-heaped masses of stones, provided with brazen gates. Thorns are
fastened at the gates to drive away " the evil eye " and all evil spirits and
to prevent their entrance. The celestial town has the aspect of a luminous temple
or a radiant palace. It is a place and home of immortality. All is light
and brightness and glory. There is no darkness and no cold. Around
this celestial building spreads afar the paradise of immortality or paradise
of light. There are various trees and plants blooming eternally and spreading
perfumes of immortality. Under these trees flows the " milk-fountain," likewise
called "fountain of immortality." In this paradise of light, dwell the angels
and the blessed who have themselves become angels. They wear on their
heads imperishable wreaths of light and are seated on radiant chairs around
a golden table full of delicious, or according to Old-Armenian conception,

1 C/. D. F. KarAKA, History of the Pawls, II, p. 185, quotation from Haw'S essays,

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. imperishable dishes and fruit. 1 The blessed taste the fruit and drink the water
from the milk-fountain of immortality. The angels and the blessed are
incessantly singing hymns of praise to God, who is seated in the temple of light
on a golden throne amidst the radiant light.

It is hi heaven, which is the dwelling-place of God and the heavenly beings,
as the earth is the dwelling-place of men, that we have to imagine according to
the Avesta the site of the paradises, the highest of which is GarAnmftna, the
radiant abode, where the pious deceased go to, the house of praises, as the
name may be translated. Here everything is light, brightness and glory.
Here Ahura Mazda sits enthroned together with all the gods, praised by the
hymns of the blessed. In the same way Iahwe, who like Ahura Mazda
is the Supreme Being, the Lord of the whole universe, in whose hands
are all the creatures, is, as we see in the books of the Old Testament, in his holy
palace in heaven on his throne, surrounded by the princes of the angels, t.e\ f
archangels, Q^to. (ty- Ps. XI, 4 ; XVIII, 7. Daniel X, 13.) Michael is called
O^H^no^tomnNi one of the first archangels, because in the Old
Testament also there are different ranks of angels. In Tobit XII, 15, is written :

Tosn hdmd 1 ? dvrwton ontn pirrM ^wSon *»«n mvt "ohi I am Raphael,

one of the seven angels, who are ministering before the face of the Lord of
the Divine Majesty. In the palace of Iahwe everyone exclaims : Glory ! (Ps,
XXIX, 9.) In Targ, Genes. 32, 36, are mentioned even the special hours of the
day when the M*TOtfD M^mSq off © r up their praises to God,

1 The Old-Armenian word anusak has the same signification ss Zd* -»jjjp»p» | Pahl. ^ j» immortal, imperishable,
but in Neo-Armenian aniaak, anois, means only fragrant, savoury, as the compounds anu$ab<dr t aiwaabvtak. In other
passages, where anutak, according to Caxoax (Dlsionario armeno-itailano, Veneris, 1817), means potato dolo$ t etc., ft
belongs to anoit; cf. Hubschmawk, Armenische Grammsftik, Leipzig, 1897, pp. 99-100 ; AaiGHXAir, p. 37, note 1.
Therefore, mnuMoA kerakur means imperi$hM$foodmBivourj food, delicious food. In the Arda Vlraf Nameh (ed. Dastnr
Kaikhosrn Jamaspji Jam abp Aba, Bombay, 1902) we find (X, 3) ^&»r fl »^» the bererage producing immortality,
and with Fibdusi, ed. Vullers, I, 257, 233 :

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Opposed to paradise is Hell, the dreadful place of eternal darkness, in
Armenian dzoxk, Np. £}j*, ddzax, Paz. ddzax, Phi. *>o?, ddsaxv, in the
inscriptions of the Sassanides ddsaxvi, A v. «m*>j ( Yt. XIX, 44) Geldner:

"I shall make the Evil Spirit rush up from dreary hell." Cf. Hubschmann, a.
a. o. p. 142;. Vend. XIX, 47: t*K> »*-m»w -o>^- tfjjj •••• *»$*j> -r#te*
wo»i»*b»i W*tA, the Daevas ran away into the depths of the dark, horrid world
of hell ; Yt. IV., 7 : ^->>**^ -r-©» i^r-tA- ty. Bartholomae, Altiranisches Worter-
buch, Strassburg 1905, s. v. daozahva ; Grundrissd. iran. Phil. I, 156, 30a. For
the Armenians, Hell is an abyss beneath the earth, divided into seven degrees and
it holds, like a strong prison, the bad black spirits and the guilty evil-smelling
souls that are given up to the hands of innumerable devils immediately after
their death. Everywhere the fire is burning in the stoves and spreads a dense
and almost palpable smoke which increases the torments of darkness. Neverthe-
less one sees in the dim light, how the poor souls, who have iron shoes in
their feet and their mouth full of vermin, are tormented. Here, one devil
strikes them with a leaden 'whip ; there, another one renders iron staffs red hot
and burns therewith their sides ; then a third one tears their flesh with tono-s.
Other souls aro seated up to the neck into cauldrons filled to the brim with
boiling tar. The seven-headed fiery dragon opens his immense mouth to
swallow the soul. He breathes fire and burns the souls who fly from him
terrified. But the only way out that they can find is the bridge MazIi over
the fire-stream between paradise and hell. But scarcely have they set foot
upon it when it breaks under the weight of their sins and they fall into the
fire-stream. Then they are again tormented until God has mercy upon them and
enlightens them.

Opposed to Gar6nmana, 1 the place of eternal light, the handsome dwelling-
place, the dwelling-place of good thoughts, the best world or heaven, where Ahura
Mazda dwells in eternal joy (cf. Yt. 22, 15 ; Yaqna 45, 8; 30, 14; 32, 15; 46, 16),

1 Of. A. V. W. Jaokbox, Die iraniscbe Beligioa, Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, Vol II., p. 685.

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is the hell in the Avesta, the house of lie, the dwelling of the worst thoughts,
the worst life (cf Ys. 51, 14; 32, 13; Vd. 3, 35). As in the paradise of
the Armenians, the pious get savoury food and delicious fruit, so in the hell of
the Avesta the sinners have bad food and have to endure mockery (cf, Ys, 81, 20 ;
49, 11). The description given in the Arda-i-Viba* of hell and of the punish-
ments awarded therein to the wicked bears, as Dr. Haug says, " a striking
resemblance to the accounts to be found in Dante's Inferno. In some points
it resembles the vision of the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament." (Cf. D.
Fr. Karaka, Hist, of the Parsis, Vol. II., p. 196. G. Maddox, The Ard&i Vir&f
N&meh, or the Revelations of Ardai Viraf, etc. Madras, 1904.)

It cannot be denied that Christianity and Islam have influenced the
Armenian ideas of heaven and hell, but undoubtedly several particulars are older,
for, together with the ancient words borrowed from other languages : asman
(at least in one Armenian dialect), anusak, dzoxk, t'onir, 1 the Iranian belief in
heaven, hell and paradise were likewise taken up by the Armenians. According
to Abeghian, p. 5, every far-spread belief in Armenia ought to be considered
as Armenian popular belief, even if it is of foreign origin. The language
may serve as a means of distinguishing the foreign elements from the Armenian
or the Armenianised. While, for instance, the Old Iranian words borrowed in
the Armenian language are long since Armenianised, many current words
of Arabic, Neo-Persian and especially of Turkish origin, are considered, if not
always by the common people, at least by the upper classes, as foreign
words. So e.g., the word t'onir, which is borrowed from the Iranians
and used already in the fifth century, is held to be Armenian, while the word

ojaxf the hearth, taken from the Tartaric tribes, is usually not considered as
Armenian. For this reason only the old t l onir is considered as holy everywhere

1 This word of Semitic origin means u baker's oven, stove, a portable stove." It Is the same word as

the Avestic jJ>j»r, Vendid. 8, 91, Phi. ^ } Np. ljj& orj>^, Hebr. Aram -y^fli Arab. jj& 0/. Spibobl,

Kommentar *. Avesta I, p. 265, and Hubbbohmann, Arm. Gramm. p. 155; Glossary and Index of the PaWavi texts

by E. W. West, Bombay-London, 1874.

• C/. Dictionnaire Turc-Francais par I. D. KiBFFKB et T, $. BjanOhI, p. 121: <$^jl, odjag, 1, Qbemlnee,
foyer ; (2) caste, maison, faxnllle.

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in Armenia. It is erected in the midst of the house and built into the floor.
It equals the church in holiness. The spirits of the house, the Manes, probably
dwell near it and have their sacrifices on occasion of the family feasts, e. g. f
a wedding.

Like the Avesta doctrines, which are known from Yt. 22 and the Minokhired,
and which are, to a certain extent, seen among the Muhammedans, 1 the Armenians
believe that the soul of a deceased lingers for three days in the neighbourhood of
the body.* On the fourth day at dawn it sets out on its way to the place of
judgment, accompanied by two angels, a good and a bad one. Sometimes
both are considered as protecting angels, of whom the one protects the soul
and the other the body (Abeghian, p. 16, 18). The march to the place of
judgment lasts seven days. The bad angel with the help of other bad spirits
assails the pious soul and tries to make it his own, but the good angel
repels him with his fiery sword and protects the soul. So the soul proceeds
to the fatal bridge of judgment, called MazS in Armenian, fynvato peretu in
the Avesta. 3 As with the Iranians, the judgment is held before the gates
of heaven that are in the East. It is described in the same manner as in
the Avesta and the co-lateral literature. The good and bad deeds of man
are weighed in the balance of justice, which, according to the Iranians, is in
the hands of Rashnu razishta, the just. The final sentence depends upon the
rising or sinking of the impartially weighed scales. 4 The bad angels bring
forward their charges against the soul, while the good ones, especially
Yjbgin Mary, defend it, just as, in the Avesta, Mithra and Sraosha plead in
, : „ *

1 Bee JuSti, Geschiohte des alten Persians, Berlin 1879, p. 90.

* Of Yt. 22, 1-6, 19-24; 24, 63-54. Vd. 19, 28. Ard&l-Viraf 4, 8-14 ; 17, 2-9. Minokh. 2, 114, 158-161. Dd. 24,
1-4; 25, 1-4. Spiegel, Eran-Altertumsk II. 149 ff. Gbigib, OK, p. 263, 276 ft. J. DarmbSTETBr, Le Zend-Avesta,
Traduction nouvelle, eto M Paris 1892. Jackson, Grundriss d. ir. Ph. II, 634, 685.

* See Yasna 51, 13; 46, 10-11; 71, 16. Vd. 19, 30. Dadist&n-i Dinik 24, 5. D. F. Kabaka, History of the Parsis,
II, pp. 192-193.

* Jackson: Weighing the soul in the balance after death, an Indian as well as Iranian idea, Aotes dn Xme.
Gongr. des Orient- II, 65, 74. How these ideas are traceable in Ghristianism is shown by several middle-age represen-
tations of the final judgment, where the Archangel Michael Is seen in the midst of the scene with the balance of
justice in his hands. The remorse of the soul on this last way is described as most dreadful. Ardli Vir&f 5, 6. Mkh. 2,
19, 122. Dd. 8, 1.

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favour of the soul, while the bad spirits accuse it. The souls of the just,
whose good actions weigh heavier, enter paradise after having passed the bridge
MazS without hazard, and the guilty go to hell because the bridge is too
narrow for them or cannot endure the* weight of their sins. It breaks and
the soul falls into the fire-stream that flows beneath the bridge between para-
dise and hell. But those who are neither guilty nor innocent, whose good
and evil actions counterbalance each other, remain behind the paradise, between
paradise and hell. " In right logical consequence, " says Jackson, 1 u Zoroaatrism
supposes a third place for those cases where the good and bad actions of a
life are of precisely the same weight/' This place is known in Pahlavi by the
name of " Harriestakan" the ever-stationary or equilibrium.* Already in the
Gathas this intermediate place is alluded to; the idea, therefore, is not new. This
third state, a sort of purgatory, is imagined as an intermediate place between earth
and the starry region. Here the soul has no worse troubles than the change between
heat and cold produced by the different seasons, and here it must await the
general resurrection and the final judgment. 8 In the Avesta, Mithba, the god
of the morning-sun, is the principal judge of the souls that are weighed
before the bridge and is assisted by Sraosha and Rashnu ; with the Armenians
it is Christ who is seated on the rising sun.

Closely and most naturally connected with the belief into the im-
mortality of the soul is the worship of the souls of the deceased. With all
Indo-German tribes the cult of the Manes was naturally a family-and-tribe

1 C/. Jackson, Grundr. d. ir. Phil. II, 685. Besides see "Lehrbuch der RellgionFgeschichte, in Verbindung nrit
Facbgelehrten herausgegeben unter Redaktion von P. D. Chantepib db la Saussayb, lubingen, 1905, where II,
218-226, the Iranian ideas about death, the other world, and the last things are treated.

• Dastar Kaikhosru Jamaspji Jamabp Asa in his edition of the Ardal-Viraf, VI, 3 8. v. ry&*f quotes £. West

"The ever-stationary — the intermediate place for those not good enough for heaven, and not bad enough for hell
where such souls remain in a passive immovable state till the resurrection." See Cababtelli, tr. Dastur Piroi
Masda-Yasnian Religion, pp. 194-196. Roth, Z. D. M. Q. XXXVII, 5,223. BabtholOmab, A. F., 111,61 seq. DeHARLEZ,
Z. D. M. G. XXXVI, 627 631. BB. IX, 294-299. IF. Ill, 169-170. Mills, S. B. B. XXXI, note 3. Modi, Pareee
System, in World's Parliament of Religions, II, 905-906. J. Darmksteteb, Le Z. A. Ill, 47, translates Ardfii-Viraf VI,
8-12. (V. Dink. VIII, 14, 8) ; II, 650, note 16.

/* Cf. Ardai-Viraf 6, 1-12. Mkh. 7, 18-19 ; 12, 14. According to Dd. 24, 6 and 33. 2, Hamestai&n is divided
iftto two parts : one for the somewhat good, the other for the somewhat bad one. See Jackson, iUd. p* 685, note.

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worship. 1 Five times during the year, the day after the five great festivals is
consecrated to the memory of the deceased. (The Romans used to sacrifice to the Manes
on the occasion of the so-called "Fercdia " ; the Indians offer up sacrifices, prayers
and worship to their Pitris, and the Parsis to the Fravashis). Already on Saturday,
the eve of the feast, the souls, according to Armenian belief, descend from
heaven to earth and abide in the neighbourhood of the tombs or in the habita-
tions of their relations. Their memory ought to be .worshipped on this evening
with incense and candles. The perfume of the incense is agreeable to the souls i
because the incense-tree grows also in paradise. The souls are also universally
worshipped in Armenia on th6 eve of other festivals and on every Saturday.
Usually incense is burnt at home on the hearth with prayers for them, or one
lays fire on a plate, puts the incense upon it and carries it about in the
house, in all corners, in the stable and everywhere where the souls are believed to
be. The Manes are worshipped in the most solemn way in the cemetery on
All Souls 1 Day, as they like best to stay near their graves. The souls of the
beloved dead see the survivors and rejoice to see that they are remembered.
To make them delighted, wood and incense are brought and burnt at the head
of every tomb.

The Manes stay on the earth for three days. On the third day they
return to heaven blessing their descendants. But the souls of those who were
not remembered by their relations curse them and go sadly away. Also on
other days the souls come to visit their relations and render them various
service. Especially the souls of fathers assist their sons. They receive therefore
peculiar worship^ their graves are held holy and one swears on their souls or their
graves. " Upon the soul of my father" (literally ; the soul of my father be witness),
" upon the grave of my father or grandfather,' 9 are thfr usual ways of swearing.
The souls of the parents are even invoked to help in distress and they do so.
For all this we can trace analogies with the Parsis. u It should be stated,"
says Kabaka I, 21 2-13, "that the Parsis da not forget their deceased relations
who have quitted this sublunary world for another. Ceremonies are per-
formed by the well-to-do on every day during the. first year and on every

1 See GszoBtt OK, p* 28£

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anniversary of the melancholy event. The last ten days of the Parsi year are specially
dedicated to the memory of the dead, and the ceremonies then performed are
known as the Fravardigdn, 1 or Muktad* as they are popularly called.

" According to the 13th section of the Fravardin Yasht, the souls of the departed
desire to be remembered during these days by those whom they lived with and left
behind in this world. They are said to express their desire in the following words :

" Who will praise us ? Who will offer to us ? Who will consider us his
own ? Who will bless us ? Who will receive us with hands bearing food and
bearing clothes ? And who will pray for us ?

" This passage explains, to a great extent, the ceremonies of the Fravardig&n
during the ten days when one of the rooms of the house is thoroughly
cleaned, whitewashed, and set apart. In it, every morning the choicest flowers
and best fruit of the season are placed in trays upon stands, and prayers are
offered during the day. The room thus specially sanctified is made as fragrant
and appropriate for the purpose as possible, in order that the memory of the
dead may be revered, and that the living may be able to pray for their
dead relatives in an earnest, quiet, and composed frame of mind.

a Fruit and flowers are essential in most of the Parsi ceremonies for either
the dead or the living. The practice of performing ceremonies and saying
prayers for the dead is much insisted upon among the Parsis. It is also affirmed
in Pehlevi books that the souls of the dead are extremely gratified and
pleased in heaven at seeing that the dear ones on this earth have not forgotten
them, and that their memory is preserved in the minds of their relations."

■ t i . ' i i ' ■ ■' — ? ' 1 r . ■ ' i ■ ," < ' > ; ■ i. .. '!■ ! ■

1 See Spiegel, E. A. II, 91-97. Geigbb OK, 286-94. J. Darmbsteteb, Le Z. A. II, 154, 603 and note 11;
518»-519. E. W. Wsst, Grnndr. d. iran. Phil, II, 104, § 47. JaOXSON, ibidem II, 643.

* See Bhapubji Edalji JJSTCTrfNf^jnfr ^TT> London £868, sec. edit. s. v. ^M< (not fr. *»yt, because the
popular notion is that the spirits of the dead are released for some time every year ). An anniversary
ceremony among the Pareis in commemoration of the dead. Cf. the Sanscrit words gfrfir, liberation, releasement
irom worldly bonds, beatitude; j^j-, g^frir^ liberated, released, Pers. atf±*. The Gujer. *jj<fl, Sk. qfr, means
final beatitude, the delivery of the soul from the body and exemption from further transmigration. Soe the
Gujtati-Snglish Dictionary by Mirjca Mahomed C^uziM— Kowrozje© Fubpoonjkb,

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The sun as the orb of the day, giving light and warmth, the moon as
the light of the night, regulating the time by its increasing or waning, have
from the most ancient times been the object of worship. Both are often
invoked in the Avesta, the sun as the resplendent, as one of the rapid steeds, and as
the eye of Ahura Mazda, and the moon as*WVW, which contains the seed of the

kine. (Ys. I, 11 ; Darmest. Le Z. A. II, 285, note 28-) The Khorshed Yasht and
Khdrshed Nyayish are dedicated to the sun, and the Mah Yasht and the Mah
Ny&yish to the moon.

In the popular belief of the Christian Armenians, traces may be found,
even nowadays, of the worship of the sun, called arev, and of the moon, called
lusin, which are personified and considered as brother ( the sun ) and sister
(the moon). The sun figures often in their hymns as the symbol of
divine grace. It is a misfortune to die without having turned one's face to-
wards the sun. The Armenians bury their dead only when the sun shines; he
who prays outside the church raises his eyes to the sun. The bed of the sick,
and the coffin of the dead are carefully turned towards the east, The newly-married
couple must turn their looks towards the east before stepping into the nuptial
bed. (Spiegel, EA II„ 69 ff.) But the veneration of the moon is still more
popular, as pointed out by Abeghian (page 47) the new moon, which is usually
invoked, is considered as salutary in its effects. But the moon is not always
favourable : when in its other quarters, it is sometimes favourable and sometimes
not so. The good or bad influence of the day depends on it. This idea of recognising
a difference in the days, which is called day-charm or moon-charm, and which is not
peculiar to the Armenians, was wide-spread in Armenia from ancient times.

Whether, at a remote epoch, the Avesta people gave, like the Babylonians, to the
moon, the precedence over the sun (see Jastrow, Die Religion Babyloniens and As-
syriens, 1&05, page 72) cannot be proved from the Avesta. In the writings of the
younger Avesta, where the religion of Zoroaster does no longer appear in its original
state, but has in the course of time lost a part of its old traditions and taken up
various new elements (see Geldner, Ueber die Metrik des jiingeren Avesta, p. iv)
the moon indeed is named in two passages before the sun. For example, in Yt. VI.,
5, the friendship of Mithra is spoken of, as existing between the moon and the eun

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/*ftf»»o» +Ktvit»t d-r^r - ). In the Vishtasp Yasht (XXIV, 13) we read: Do thou praise
him who keeps and maintains the moon and the sun. But in Yt. 13, 16 ; Ys. 16, 4 ;
Vend. 9, 161, we find the successive order as that of sun, moon and stars,
while in Vend. 2, 132; 11, 3; Ys. L, 45; II, 45; VII. 13; Yt. X, 145;
XII., 25, 32-34 ; XIII., 57, stars, moon and sun are mentioned in the inrerted
order. Therefore I do not think it momentous that in both passages the moon
is named first. It is certain that in the latest times of the Sassanides* who
called themselves brothers of the moon and wore a crescent on their diadem
as we see from their coins, the cult of the moon became more and more
important. The Zoroastrian religion had also been propagated in Armenia, not
indeed in the time of the Achaemenians, but under the reign of the Parthians.
Valabsceak I., the first Arsacidian king of Armenia, is said to have created
images of the sun and moon and of his ancestors in a great temple in Armenia. 1
It ia indeed possible that the cult of the moon-god was transmitted to Armenia
from Babylonia. In Ub, the sun-god Schamasch was early worshipped together
with the moon-god Sin> but the Babylonians gave to the moon the precedence
over the sun. The last named is expressly called "offspring of the lord of the
bright commencement," viz., the moon-god (Delitzsch, Assyr. Handw. 234").
One of the kings of the Isin dynasty calls the sun-god " the offspring of Nannar
one of the names of the moon-god, and the last king of Babylon, NabonnedoSf
does the like. When both divinities are named together, the moon-god has
the precedence over Schamasch, and when the whole Pantheon is enumerated
in the inscriptions of the Assyrian and Babylonian kings,, the same order is
observed* A further testimony for the higher rank of Sin y the moon -god,
in Babylon is the computation of time according to the moon-phases, the moon
being on account of the regularity of its changes a better guide for men than
the sun. The worship of the moon-god was not confined to Ui j Barran was
likewise celebrated for moon- worship, but the cult at Ur outshone every other
and its glory and importance eclipsed the cult of the moon at alt other

places/' (See Jastbow, I., 66> 67, 72, 73.)

»^ - -. _

1 8ee Josti, Iran. Namentrach s. y , p. 346^ id. Gruadr d. ix . Ph. IL 490, 491. 506:; Geeohichte d. altea Perstena
p. 73.

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Recently Huksing has expressed the opinion (Iranischer Mondkidt^ Archiv
fur Religionswissenschaft IV,, 349-357) that the moon played a part of con-
siderable importance in the Iranian religion. The orb which, in the stereotype
relief representations of the Achaemenian tombs at Naksh-i-Rustam, floats in
the air above the fire altar, is, according to him, intended for the moon, and the
whole scene a representation of the Haoma-sacrifice. In Stolze's well-known
work the author believes to recognize on the first tomb of Persepolis the
crescent at the base of the orb. In Dieulafoy's book (L'Art Antique de la
Perse, Ach&nenides, Parthes, Sassanides, Paris 1884-86) the half-circle, as the
author says, may be seen quite distinctly, for example, in Plate IV., Tombeau de
Darius. Dieulafoy speaks of it plainly as the u disque lunaire " (III. partie, p. 4).
Hitherto most scholars took this orb or rather globe for m an emblem of the sun.
Ker-Porter 1 , who visited and designed the tombs, says in his description of this first
tomb-relief as follows : " A pedestal of three steps is surmounted by an altar
evidently charged with the sacred fire, a large flame of it appearing at the
top ; high over it, to the right, we see a globular shape, doubtless intended for
the sun, of which the fire below was the offspring and the emblem." Spiegel
(Eran. Altertumsk. III., 810) says : " A globe which no doubt is intended for
an emblem of the sun or of Mithra." Also Weissbach (Grundr. d. ir. Phil.
II, 57) takes the disk for the sun, and the learned Parsee, K. D. Kiash 1 , who
like Weissbach, visited these tombs on the spot, expresses himself as follows.
"Opposite him (i.e., the king), on a platform, is a burning censer, on the
top of which is an emblem of the rising sun." On the excellent reproduction
which Kiash gives on Plate XLVII., a shade is drawn into the circle above the fire-
altar, which has, I believe, no other purpose than to point out that the emblem is a
globe and not a mere circle. A photographical reproduction of this relief,
representing a globe, will show on the right or the left side and beneath,
according to the distribution of light, a shade which may be mistaken for a
crescent. No doubt a celestial orb is represented here, but the crescent

1 Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient Babylonia, etc., Vol. L,pp. 516 524. See also K0880WIC2, Inaoript.
Falseo-Persiose Achaemenidarnm, Petropoii 1872, Interpret et Commentary deeoriptionee Naqsh-i-Rustami, p. 86.

» Ancient Persian Sculptures : or the Monuments, Buildings, B as- Beliefs, Rock Inscriptions, etc., belonging to
the Kings of the Achaemenian and Sassanian Dynasties of Persia, by K. D. Kiabb, Bombay, 1889, p. 140,

20

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which Huesing professes to see in Stolze's work is, I think, nothing else but
the shade of the globe which the photographical reproduction gives and must
give. Perhaps the difference between the representations of Stolzb and Dieulafot
may be explained by the different distribution of light on the occasion
fo photographing. As favourable to Huesing 'a view may be considered
the passages in Herodotus 1 and Curtiusf and also the notice of Masfidi^
that Manushchitra had built the temple of Balch in honour of the moon.
Lastly, we must bear in mind the prominent place which the moon worship undoubt-
edly held in very ancient times in Babylonia, Armenia and in Persia under the
Sassanides. If Huesing is right, the moon-cult of the Iranians should have existed
already at the time of Darius I. Also Chbistensbn* thinks it not improbable that
at any rate in the time of Zoroastrianism, the cult of the moon-god was so to say
closely connected with fire-worship.

The veneration of fire, especially of the fire of the hearth, is one of the
most ancient religious conceptions of the Indo-Germans. We are not astonished,
therefore, to find it also in the Avesta, which preaches everywhere the
veneration for the element of fire. In Bombay and elsewhere places are dedicated for
this purpose, which are called fire-temples. The name M fire-temple" surprises one,
as intimating an unusual form of divine worship, and the Parsis have therefore often
been called " fire-worshippers." But even in early times Mahomedan writers have
endeavoured to defend the Parsis from this charge. The great Persian poet
Firdausi says in his Shah-nameh:

It will suffice to say that the Parsis do not worship fire as a divinity. Fire
was considered by Zoroaster as the purest symbol of the Divinity, and is
held by the Parsis of the present day to be the emblem of refulgence, glory

1 See VII., 37. ytyovrts rjkiov tlvat 'EXXqiw trpodcrropa, o-fXqvqy e> <r$cw

* IV., 10, 6: Adfirmant solem Grsscorum lunam esse Peraarnm, qnoties ilia deflclat, ruinain stragemque Alia
gentibua portendi.

* Orientalisiische LiteratarzeitUDg VII , p. 49-62: Die Moschee Mih in Buhiri. Cf. ibid, p. 133. Hussijra,
Per Tempel dee Mah ron BalfoBaktra.

« Kaeaka translates: " Say not that they (the Persians) were worshippers of fire, they were worshippers of
one God."

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and light, the truest symbol of God, the invisible Creator of the universe.
Therefore the observances paid to fire are more prominent than other parts
of the Avesta Ritual. 1 Remnants of this veneration have been retained by
other Indo-German tribes as also by the Armenians down to the present day.
They swear upon the hearth-fire, which is considered as the holy religious
emblem of the family (see u Mitteilungen der Wiener Anthropolog Gesellschaft"
XXII, 145), In some places it is thought sinful to say, a Extinguish the
fire ! " One says instead merely, " Bless the fire 1 " The Armenian popular
belief sees in fire also an important means of defence. It drives away the
evil spirits and protects men, especially in the night, when the bad spirits
are everywhere, save in the fire (c/. 'Abeghian, pp. 66-67).

By daily use and by the vicinity of things thought unclean, as for example,
in Iran, by the vicinity of the corpse (cf. Geiger, OK. p. 258. Grundr. d. ir. Ph. IL,
299, 681. Rapp, ZDMG. XX,, 52 ff, translated by K. R. Cama, p. 179 ff) the
fire becomes polluted. No fire is lighted in a room where a dead man lies.
In some places fire is lighted in the open air to warm the water for the bath
of a deceased. Such a fire is not lighted from the hearth-fire, which would
be polluted, but is kindled anew by flint and steel. After the required portion
of water is heated, the fire is unclean and noxious, the half-burnt logs of wood
are not left in the court, but are thrown burning into the street. All passers-by
avoid these logs in the streets as something dangerous. It is even believed
that to tread upon them would cause the death of a member of the family.
If by constant use the fire became unclean in the course of time, it was
renewed at the consecrated fire-place of the community, a custom to be found with
many nations (cf. Abeghian, pp. 71-72).

If we now turn away from the powers of light and brightness to those of dark-
ness, with Ahriman at their head, we can trace likewise similar conceptions in the
Armenian popular belief. In consequence of the conversion of the Armenians to

* The matter is treated in eatemo by Dosabhoy Fbamjib, ' The Parsees *, etc., pp. 256-266, and
Vol. II., pp. 209-225. See also * The Religion and the Customs of the Persians and other Iranians/
translated from the German of Dr. A. Rapp by K. R. Cama, Bombay, 1877, pp. 141-H4.

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Christianity, the name of Ahriman 1 was indeed obscured by that of Satan. But his
creatures which are mentioned by Herodotus, Plutarch and Agathias, and in the Acts
of the Persian Martyrs, and the destruction of which the Avesta recommends as an
atonement for certain sins (cf. Vend. XIV., 5-6 ; XVIII, 66-76), are still an
object of fright and fear for the Armenians of the present day (cf. £ama, I.e.,
p. 160; Grundr. d. ir. Ph. II., 618). These are all the animals that are either
dangerous or frightful and loathsome to mankind, for example, the reptiles,
the poisonous snakes, scorpions, frogs, ants, gnats and all sorts of vermin which,
together with the snakes, or alone by themselves, persecute man during the
night. Few men dare to touch a frog, which is considered as an unclean
animal. One is frightened to see it at night or in the twilight. It is
considered as a demon producing diseases; it produces warts on the hand and
makes the teeth fall out. The same action upon the teeth is ascribed in Astapat to
the lizards. The ant is not so dangerous as the frog, but it also is sometimes called
" devil, " and is the cause of a skin-disease called " mrjmuk", little ant. That the
Armenians believed also in female demons called " druj" is proved by the word u druc,"
which is interpreted in an ancient dictionary as u dev vnasin" i.e., demon of mischief.
(See Alischan, Der alteGlaube oder die heidnische Religion Armeniens, Venedig 1895,
p. 218. Abeghian, pp. 30-36). In Armenian, the word occurs in the compound
vxtadruz, breaking one's word, tiradruz, perfidious, as *£} in &^ «Wn = Phi. ^3 iir*
promise-breaking. 2 If the ancient name is not any more in use now, the belief in

v

these female evil spirits, corresponding to the Iranian druj already mentioned in the

1 The Avestio ^>"i**c-iV Phi. jt*y Ahr (a) man Gl. and Ind. 8, Syr. *n^*ltt Neopers, ^x^f
*o*£ •jf or 42^0 l^yf is in Armenian Arhmn with the collateral forms Haraman, Xaraman, Raramani, Xaramani.
According to HuebboHmann, Arm. Oram., p. 26. Haramani appears to be the more ancient (Aroacidian), Arhmn.
the more recent (Sassanian) form, as Parth. Arm. Atamaed for Ancient Pers. Aoramasda, Phi. Ohrmaed, Sassan.
Arm. OrmUd for Middle Pers. Hotmizd. See HubbsOHMawn, l*. p. 13.

' In Armenia we find the verb drt-em or d*r-em, to deceive, to break a contract « A vest. <yw <»1^ ntfi>
Vd. IV, 11, 12. Tt. X, 18; XIV, 47. Anc. Persian duruj, to lie, Phi. n^S to lie, to speak false, to break a promise
)j£pj> Gl. and Ind. 260, 262, furthermore the substantive drtank or dzrank, fraud, deceit, and drutan, a false
man » Phi* JAr*3 false, lying, plor. used as a blng. rioro Ard-i-Vir. V, 6; LO, 3, the false, liars, Ano. Peri.
dtaujXna, a liar, Neopers. ^3 £JJ* * 1,ar -

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Gathas, is nevertheless still so stroDg, that all evil spirits appearing under different
names are occasionally feminine. They have intimate intercourse with men in sleep,
cheat them, and beget children with them, and these are all again of the female sex.

According to Abbghian (p. 78) the thunderstorm- snakes have a prominent place
in Armenian folklore. They are called "visap " dragon, an ancient and oft-used
word, the popular expression being "usap." In the Avesta the word does not occur,
but that it is of Iranian origin is proved by the adjective ft< visdpa" u e., u the juices
of which are poisons/' which according to Bartholom-e occurs in the Nlrangastan
48 as an epithet of "azi." From ancient times down to the present day visap is,
in Armenia, a personification of thunderstorm or whirlwind. As the Greek Typhon
or Typhoeus designates the whirlwind, the water-spout, and in general every
storm, and is, at the same time, a mythic dragon-like being, that fills the sky with its
fiery breath and vapour, so likewise, the Armenian Visap is a monster appearing
under the form of a water- spout or a whirlwind. According to Armenian popular
belief, the thunderstorm is a wind that comes from the earth, rising to the surface
from demolished and cavernous places and abysses. Therefore the dragon Visap
rises or is drawn up to the light ; as a thunderstorm-monster he dwells on high
mountains, where the whirlwinds intercross, and lastly he is associated with moun-
tain-caves and crevices, as is the thunderstorm-dragon with many other nations. He
often changes his shape ; he appears in one instant like a snake, in another as a man,
once as a mule, then as a camel or as a rider pursuing the flying game. In a
thunderstorm the fiery streaks of cloud — which are frequent in Armenia — are called
the fiery body of the dragon, while the flash of lightning is the staff or the rod of the
angel Gabriel and of other angels, who strike the dragon with it. Thunder is the
cry of those who are struck. Finally the dragon is cut into pieces that fall down
as snakes, i.e.$ the stripes of the falling rain are considered as snakes.

In the Avesta Azi Dahaka is also counted among the -w^ an( * ca Ued

Vd. VIII, 21 a>V *»Ky^ (Geldn.), thus considered as a feminine, while he is generally

masculine* This dragon had a most prominent place in Iranian folklore. We find

traces of him in Christian Armenia as late as the 5th century A. C. The

struggle between Atab and Azhi is justly called by Edv. Lbhmann (Lehrbuch d.

Religionsgeschichte Vol. IL, p. 183-184) the principal myth of Iran, which in the

si

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Avesta (Yt. XIX) is combined with political elements that give to the tale its
peculiarly Persian character.

In the Bundahish Azi Dahaka's devilish pedigree is traced back to Ahriman ; he
has in Pahlavi the traditional epithet Bevarasp (cf. Jcsti, Ira. Namenb. s. v.
Baewaraspa); in the Shah-nfimeh he appears under the name of Zohdk as a
human monster invested with sovereignty ( see Huebschmann, Arm. Gr. pp. 32, 33 ;
Jackson, Grundr. II, 664). He is also called by Firdausi L, 40, 144 cpiu^j,
the dragon-like. He is called by the Armenians Azdhdk Biurasp. What place the
legend of this Azdahdk held in Armenia, can be estimated from the interesting article of
V. Stackelberg (Bemerkungen zur persischen Sagengeschichte, Wiener Zeitschrift
fur Kunde des Morgenlandes XII, s. 237-238) who gives some details of the
Persian legend about Azdhdk Biurasp from Moses of Khorene, and quotes
on this occasion a passage from Faust us of Byzanz, an Armenian historian
who relates that the Armenian queen Pharendzem consecrated her son Pap
(370 A. C.) to the devs by whom Pap accordingly was possessed; he always com-
municated with them and they tried their witchcraft upon him When in the morning
the courtiers waited upon the king, they perceived the devs clinging to his shoulders
in the shape of snakes ( cf. Firdausi, p. 32, V. 177 ), and creeping out of his bosom.
But if the patriarch Narses or the holy bishop Chath appeared before Pap, the devs
were not there and became invisible. V. Stackelberg is inclined not to take this
tale of Faustus for a genuine popular legend, but to attribute its origin to the
influence of the Christian clergy, king Pap, being hated by the clergy because he
suppressed the nunneries, prohibited the clergy from taking care of the poor and
sequestered ecclesiastical property. Under his reign the discipline of the church
was so loosened that, as Faustus relates, many returned to the ancient deva- worship.
But even if we grant that the clergy influenced the narrative of . Faustus, this is
precisely a testimony for the popularity of the Azdahak-legend in Armenia at this
epoch, and shows how earnestly the clergy had to strive against deva-worship which
was still practised. Nevertheless I agree with V. Stackelberg's closing words : " It
is characteristic for the force of the Iranian influence upon the intellectual life of
ancient Armenia that even Christian ecclesiastics availed themselves, although un-
consciously, of Iranian legends for their purposes.' '

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It was not my intention to give in this short treatise a description of the
Armenian folklore in all its particulars. But I believe that the little I have given
will suffice to show many reminiscences of the old Indo-Iranian time, as well as of
the time when the greatest part of the Armenian people adhered to Zoroastrianism,
as still extant to-day. Although the zealous ministers of the Christian church
endeavoured from the 5th century downwards with all their might to abolish the
former religion with its hosts of spirits and its veneration of the celestial bodies, the
Armenian people preserved its old songs, and its inherited popular belief. Also after
the conversion to Christianity the people believed in the power of the stars that
influence the destiny of individual men, unveil their profound secrets and ac-
company them on their way through life. (See Chalatianz, Armenische Heldensage,
Zschr. f. vergleich Volkskunde XII, pp. 391, 401). This nation likewise bears
evidence that religious ideas never perish by the rise of a new religion. 4< They are,"
as Justi says ( Geschichte des alten Persiens, p. 73 ), " clad into another garment,
adapted to the system, or banished from the community of true believers, they continue
as superstitions which are often more powerful than the acknowledged religion."

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